Surgical techniques for the treatment of spinal injuries or deformities are usually aimed at joining together two or more vertebrae of the spine, through a process named spinal fusion.
Spinal fusion typically involves the removal of damaged disc material between the two adjacent vertebrae and the subsequent insertion of one or more interbody devices into the emptied disc space, either using an anterior or a posterior approach.
In order to ensure primary stability, the surgeon usually adopts a fixation system that is anchored to the spine by means of orthopedic screws implanted into the pedicles of the vertebrae that are to be fused together. The single screws are connected together by means of rigid or semi-rigid rods, which are conveniently housed within a transversal hole provided in the screw head.
Only recently has the trend toward minimally invasive surgical techniques become also pervasive in the field of spinal surgery, with applications to the above-described spinal fusion procedures.
However, different challenges come with the introduction of these new techniques.
Firstly, it is critical that a sufficient access and visibility of the interbody area are ensured, in particular during operations of discectomy and disc replacement. In order to do so, dedicated retractors have been developed that may be inserted into and appropriately widen the surgical incision.
Secondly, it is often necessary to distract the adjacent vertebrae to be able to operate in the interbody area, either to remove the damaged disc or to insert the replacement body. This task is performed by a surgical distractor device.
The adoption of both a distractor and a retractor may prove difficult to coordinate for the surgeon, adding an unwanted additional complication to a challenging operation.
Systems combining both the functions of a distractor and a retractor have been developed, but these have tended to be excessively bulky and hard to handle due to their plurality of interdependent elements. Moreover, the different operative members inserted in the surgical site may obstruct the visibility and access to the surgical site.
In view of the foregoing, the technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide a surgical device that may perform the functions of both a retractor and a distractor, while at the same time having a simple structure and only a limited number of operative members that are inserted within the surgical site.